Wednesday, November 28, 2012

365/27: Canon EF 50mm 1.8 mark I

I spent today home sick, trying to sleep off sinus congestion and a nasty sore throat. I'm better now, thanks. But hovering in the house all day put a crimp in my 365 photo acquisition. I suspect "pictures of the lenses I use" will become my go-to feature when I don't have anything else better to run, but hey, a least you folks get to see the cool toys Lisa and I play with. This here is a personal favorite of mine: The Canon EF 50mm 1.8 mark I. The (good) optics are the same as the current EF 50mm 1.8 mark II lens available for around $120, but the build quality of the lens is much better. I believe the autofocus in the older model lens is slightly faster and more accurate, but more importantly, it has a easy-to-use manual focus ring, which is something the newer version can't claim. I bought this lens used back when I first started getting serious about infrared photography. Ever since my Rebel XTi was converted to full-time infrared, it's become my absolute favorite go-to lens for portraits. From my vantage point, it's an even better performer in infrared than in visible light. It's a workhorse, and one of the oldest EF lenses Canon ever produced: Judging from the serial number on it, it rolled out of the factory a month or so before the first EOS cameras became available for sale in the U.S. That makes it at least 25 years old, and still earning it's keep.